Year: 2009

Quote of the Day

Glenn Reynolds on the Inauguration:

CONGRATULATIONS TO MR. OBAMA: The civil-rights revolution was something of my parents’ generation, not mine — my dad marched at Selma, but I was learning to walk, talk and eat at the time, skills I found useful in later life, but . . . . Still, whether or not you voted for Barack Obama, this is a watershed moment. I find that my overwhelming feeling for him right now is sympathy, though, as it was for President Bush. Bill Clinton probably realizes just how lucky he was to be President during a period where things were relatively calm. I fear that won’t be Obama’s lot, as it wasn’t Bush’s, though I hope I’m wrong.

If circumstances manage to hobble Obama’s presidency, I will consider us lucky.  Many on the left seem eager to reassure us that Obama will not spend his political capital going after guns, but I am not so sure.  We will see.

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In Praise of the Colosimo Five

Monica Yant-Kinny thinks the 5 people who got themselves arrested for illegally and defiantly trespassing on the property of another are heros:

Some reputation. Colosimo’s “values profits over the lives of others,” City Solicitor Shelley Smith wrote in a legal filing last year. “At best, Colosimo’s knowingly continued its abysmally poor business practices after repeatedly being notified by ATF of its guns flowing into the hands of criminals. At worst, Colosimo’s knowingly traffics in crime guns.”

If this were true, Colosimo would be in jail, and the ATF would have revoked his Federal Firearms License.  The fact is the man sells a lawful product under regulation of both the federal and state governments, which allow him to keep operating, not because of lack of oversight, but because he cannot be held responsible because some of his firearms through illegal transfers or theft end up on the streets in the hands of criminals.  What is so hard to understand about this that Monica Yant-Kinney and the editorial board of the Philadelphia Daily News find so hard to understand.   I can understand five deluded and misguided souls believing that Colosimos is responsible for this, rather then the people who rob, murder, and assault, but we should absolutely expect better from journalists.

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H-S Precision Booth at SHOT

According to someone who attended, their booth was not barren at this year’s SHOT.  It’s unclear how much we have actually hurt H-S Precision.  I am going to hold out hope they’ve seen a significant drop in business, regardless of their booth traffic at SHOT.  But this does offer a lesson in overextending political capital.

It seems we had some effect on Cooper Firearms, but it’s not entirely clear that wasn’t related to pre-existing business trouble.  H-S Precision made the gamble that our bark was worse than our bite, and if they do not suffer a significant reduction in business as the result of our refusal to buy their products, we will have a significantly reduced likelihood of twisting anyone’s arm and making them cry “Uncle!” in the future.  This is exactly how it works on Capitol Hill too.

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We’re on Facebook

You can now follow this blog on Facebook.  I was reluctant to bring the blog onto Facebook, since I have coworkers and other folks I’m friends with there who do not know of my efforts here, but Facebook doesn’t seem to make a strong association.  If someone looks, they can find it, but they have to look.  I think I’m OK with that.

But now that you know who I am on Facebook, feel free to friend me.

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Montana Gun Rights Bill

The bill Joe highlights here in the Montana Legislature would run into problems with the Supremacy Clause, but it shows how states can take measures to resist federal encroachments on fundamental rights.  If the state of Montana were very serious about such a measure, to the point where it would be willing to arrest federal agents sent to enforce unconstitutional gun laws, things would get interesting.  I’ve discussed this in more detail here, about how state governments resisting laws they find intolerable can up the ante, so to speak, and serve to draw a line in the sand that is an alternative to what others advocate.  States like Montana, Wyoming and Idaho already seemed primed for such action, even if under the current circumstances, these bill are merely symbolic.

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